Legal requirements for protection of personal data mean that in many countries restrictions are imposed on where such information can be stored. Even if the content is encrypted many data protection laws prevent such information from being transferred out of the country—there is always the risk of increasingly advanced algorithms or leakage of the passwords or encryption keys meaning that information may ultimately be leaked and accessible. However, it can be useful to have access to such information, even in a restricted form, to allow general trend analysis without needing any link or reference back to individuals the data is associated with.
The rapid and continuous increase in data storage and processing means that more and more companies are moving their storage and processing requirements to cloud based systems, which may be located out of the particular country in question. Furthermore, cloud storage and processing providers typically may distribute or migrate content across multiple geographic sites as a form or redundancy or to assist with load balancing. Even if one were to upload personal content to a cloud in the local territory backups may be made to other clouds throughout the world. Using such cloud based systems for storage and processing is however advantageous due the ability to scale as storage and processing demands increase.
There is therefore a need for a system whereby information can be stored remotely, in particular personal information, whilst still meeting requirements for protection of personal data.